Chapter Twelve #2
Emma refused to take the bait this time. “Nope, just in the mood to explore a bit.”
“Good for you. Though, just so you know, Hunter isn’t working until noon today.”
“Not sure why that would matter to me,” Emma said tightly. “But I appreciate the info.”
Shrugging, Granny adjusted her glasses. “Based on what I saw on Saturday night, it seemed like something you might want to know.”
“Hunter and I are just friends.” Did she really have to say this?
Granny looked up at her. “Is that so?”
“It is. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
“Of course.” Granny made a shooing motion.
“I’m just going to finish this up, and maybe make a few calls, and then I have to head home and pack.
” She darted her gaze at the ceiling in fond exasperation.
“God knows Jerry will have two pairs of socks ready to go, and he’ll say that’s all he needs for the entire trip. ”
Emma laughed. “Good luck with that.”
“I’ll need it.” Shaking her head, Granny sighed. Then she fixed Emma with an appraising look. “You’ve got everything, right? I didn’t mean to spring this on you.”
“I’ll be fine,” Emma promised. This place was a well-oiled machine, and the other employees were all perfectly competent.
Granny’s gaze went to someplace in the distance, and then she smiled. “You will be. I have a good feeling about it.”
Her confidence in the matter was a little unsettling, but Emma wasn’t about to question it. “Have fun on your trip!”
“Oh, believe me, I will.”
With that, Emma headed up to her apartment to grab her jacket and her bag.
Outside, fall was now officially in full swing.
The big maple trees that lined Heart Street were all golden around the edges, with hints of red beginning to show.
Supposedly, peak foliage wouldn’t hit for another couple of weeks, but based on the current state of affairs, when it arrived, it was going to be stunning.
Bundling her jacket around her, she breathed in the crisp air. She was going to need to find her hat and gloves before long, but for now, the hint of a chill in the air was more than welcome.
She didn’t have an agenda for the morning, other than a vague intention to get out of the house. Living above her place of employment was extremely convenient, but it was way too easy to just forget to leave the building sometimes.
Which was a shame. Downtown Heart’s Hope Crossing radiated a warmth she never would have expected.
Plenty of the shops were all decked out for fall, with a veritable pumpkin patch worth of decorative gourds artfully arranged in more than one window.
She snapped a couple of photos as inspiration, feeling even more determined to add some flair to the Cozy Nook Bookshop as well.
As she walked, friendly faces said hello.
Some folks still looked at her with a bit of guardedness; she was a newcomer, after all.
But most people were familiar to her now.
She waved at Mayor Thompson, who was leaving the credit union, and exchanged a quick greeting with Toni from the crafting club, and met her daughter, Reagan.
Abby was outside her plant shop, watering some festive pots of fall mums. A few of those wouldn’t be a bad addition to the bookstore’s entrance.
Emma asked a bit about their care and made a note of their price, figuring she’d think it over and maybe come back for a couple another time.
Probably with her car or a dolly… or a hypermuscular forest ranger, for example.
Mentally rolling her eyes at herself, she put that thought out of her head. Things between her and Hunter were in a delicate holding pattern right now. She didn’t feel comfortable upsetting it by asking him for a silly favor like that.
Saying goodbye to Abby, she continued her stroll. It was the height of luxury to just be wandering around without a real plan—something she’d never made time for until she moved here. Step by step, her shoulders relaxed, and a smile stole over her face.
She poked her head into a gift shop, where she bought a little dragonfly pin she thought her mom would like—though who knew how she’d get it to her, considering her parents had no permanent address at the moment.
When she’d spoken to her mom the day before, Emma had waxed poetic about Vermont in the fall, but it was nowhere on her parents’ itinerary to head back east again anytime soon.
Tucking the bag with the pin into her purse, she continued on, treating herself to a chunk of dark chocolate amaretto fudge at the candy shop and an unsweetened cinnamon spice chai at the tea shop next door.
Warm, cozy cup in hand, she window-shopped past a game store and an aquarium outfitter and an art gallery featuring gorgeous—if extremely expensive—landscapes by a local painter.
She paused a little longer in front of the big display window of a yarn and fabric store she might never have even realized existed, if it hadn’t been for Abby and Hattie trying to induct her into their crafting circle.
She was tempted to take a peek inside, but even from the sidewalk, the sheer number of options was wildly overwhelming.
Maybe she’d ask her new friends where to start—or maybe they could all plan a time to stop in together. That might be fun.
Eventually, she reached the end of the main strip, where her gaze caught on a set of big wooden crates set up outside the local hardware store. Red, orange, and gold sparkly ribbon spilled out the top of one of them, and a handwritten sign advertised Fall decor—30% off.
Granny’s words floated back to her, both disparaging her suggestion about acquiring some new seasonal decorations and simultaneously reminding her that the store was hers now, to manage how she saw fit.
She chewed her bottom lip. Thirty percent off was a pretty good deal, especially for a small business. There was no reason not to at least take a peek, right?
She crossed the street, taking care around the small traffic jam of pickup trucks coming in and out of the parking lot.
At first glance, she wasn’t sure if it had been worth it; the crates contained the most random mishmash of fall-themed…
stuff she could imagine. But after a few minutes of sifting through hollow plastic pumpkins and a few sunflowers that only barely outshone the dilapidated ones that had been decaying away in Granny’s basement, she hit pay dirt.
Three beautiful wreaths, made of tightly woven branches intertwined with colorful, tastefully glittering fall leaves.
Garlands with more, matching leaves, strung with fairy lights that would look enchanting curled around the edges of bookshelves.
Standing up beside the crates were some cornstalks, labeled as being cut and dried from a local farm, and some more random artificial florals.
She even found a big, orange-tinted glass vase—if she made an arrangement from the florals, it would look perfect next to the register…
or in the background behind some new autumn romance titles she could share on social media…
“Can I help you with anything?”
Emma didn’t jump, but it was a near thing. As it was, she had to juggle to keep from dropping the vase as she whipped around.
Standing behind her, one brow raised, was Hunter’s friend Lucas from the line dancing class.
He was white, nearly as tall as Hunter, but just as lean and muscular.
He was clean-shaven, though, with a thick mop of sandy brown hair that fell into his clear, blue eyes.
Dressed in work jeans and a blue plaid flannel shirt, he looked like he could be a model for a sexy farmer calendar or something.
Good grief. Emma swallowed hard and gripped the vase tighter so as not to make a bigger of a fool of herself. She knew this town was unique, but was there something in the water that made the men here so unreasonably attractive?
“Uh, hi,” she stammered. “Fine. No. I mean, I don’t need any help.”
Of course, at that exact moment, the glittery orange pumpkin she’d kind of forgotten she also had precariously balanced in her arms officially lost its fight against gravity. She felt it tip and scrambled to try not to let it fall, but it tumbled out of her grasp.